This digest identifies some of the cultural factors that can influence learner and teacher behavior during classroom English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. Four topic areas are discussed: roles of learners and teachers, gender-related issues; appropriate topics for instruction, and behavior at the site of instruction. Given the diversity of the student population along with the part-time and temporary nature of ESL instruction and the varied backgrounds of literacy instructors, it is impossible to offer guidelines for cross-cultural training that fits all adult ESL classrooms equally well. Only cross-cultural efforts that require ongoing mutual discovery and adaptation by both learners and teachers can provide the concrete guidance needed to insure that literacy instruction is culturally as well as linguistically compatible for all those involved. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education) (LET)